dead macbook

Got an old macbook and it's died.

I want to know if I can remove the hard drive and browse the files and recover them using a 2.5 inch ide to usb adapter and plug it into a pc without the pc trying to format / change it for obvious reasons.

This isnt to view the files or convert them for pc, just recover them. Reason being is my PC has a mirrored array for storage and it will be safe there until I get another MAC. I'd like to know which area to back up that will have my docs etc.

I appreciate any help with this

Yes, that's doable just as you state in your post. As long as you realize that you will not be able to R\W the files on your PC, however, copying them to the array will work. Or, you could just remove the HDD from the dead Mac and keep it in a safe place until you get a new Mac and then attach it and copy. Since you can't do anything with the files anyway until you get a new Mac, why bother copying them to the array?